Mobile technology has changed our daily lives. Now, with the help of devices, we work, plan trips, shop, and much more. Also, technological progress has changed our approach to finance: we make money transfers in one click, we track costs and pay bills. With an app like Robinhood, we can make profitable investments just by holding a mobile phone. Investing and trading stocks have never been so affordable and popular. Let’s discuss the benefits of trading apps and their cost.
What is it?
Robinhood is an investment and trading application that appeared in 2015. With it, users can invest in stocks, cryptocurrencies, and manage their finances. It was created for young people who are interested in investing. Therefore, the developers have made Robinhood as simple as possible so that young people can immediately start working with the stock market. To give even more motivation for new users, the creators made the application free, and do not charge a commission.
Why is it so popular?
In the USA, Robinhood is in great demand and is among the top trading applications. Let’s see how the application attracts users:
- No commissions.
- Sophisticated design with useful features.
- Both mobile trading platform and web interface.
- Easy and fast account opening.
- Inexperienced users can try themselves in the role of a trader.
- Actual statistics and information on investments.
- Bitcoin and Ethereum trading is available.
- The latest news and cryptocurrency data.
- Convenient notifications.
Robinhood monetization
If Robinhood does not charge a fee from users, then how does the application make a profit? It’s simple, the application uses two ways to monetize your project. The first is lending. The user can borrow money for investment. Of course, a percentage is charged from a trader for funds taken on credit. The second method is a premium paid account that provides users with special trading opportunities.
How much does it cost to build a trading app?
As with any application, giving the exact cost is extremely difficult. On average, the trading stocks app will cost from $25,000 to $40,000. The cost also depends on many factors:
- The application will be developed for Android, iOS or both platforms;
- How wide the functionality of the application will be (dashboard, portfolio, watchlist, notifications and other);
- Interface design;
- Prototype creation;
- A freelancer or company will work on the development;
- Application size.
Challenges
In the United States, your activities will be monitored by the SEC (Security and Exchange Commission). In different countries, you will have different regulatory organizations. Therefore, it is worth getting a license for each country in which the application will operate. It is also useful for such a project to participate in investor protection programs and regulatory organizations such as SIPC and FINRA.
Information Security
The investment industry is always risky. Security is one of the essential factors that should be considered when creating financial apps. A trading app should provide maximum security for users. But not only the application must take care of security. Much also depends on users who need to set up two-factor authentication, Touch ID / Face ID, and PIN.
Interactive UI design
When creating a mobile app, the convenience of UI design plays a vital role. It’s difficult to understand trading and investing, so you don’t need to complicate the work with the app for users. You need to provide complete convenience of tracking statistics, changes and other indicators of trading platforms.
Real-time information
Users want to view real-time market information. With this option, traders can see the latest market data and successfully invest, which will increase the credibility of the application and its popularity.
Quality customers support
Support is the Robinhood app weakness. The service doesn’t provide educational materials and support users only with email on a selected topic. So fast and responsive chat or telephone support can be a competitive advantage for a new app.
Final words
Applications like Robinhood now have a wide audience of users. If you decide to create a similar trading app, you should consider many factors to succeed. The path to creating new software will not be easy, but any project is a challenge. However, having fulfilled all the conditions for good development and solving all legal problems, you can achieve success in this industry.
